ANTI, Rihanna – review

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After a four year wait following Unapologetic, fans expected Rihanna’s unsubtly titled eighth album to be a departure from the mainstream – a project from the left-field, an example of unshackled creativity. What becomes quickly apparent is that it is not, if anything her producers were very much in control and less than ambitious in scope. Always vacillating between BadGalRiRi and a more delicate persona in her music, ANTI lands her right in the middle of that spectrum. However, there is no new Rihanna to be heard apart from a throwback to female Motown legends found in the impressive track Love On the Brain, then again, that oeuvre is borrowed at best.

The first track Consideration (feat. SZA) sets the record up nicely with a sparse boom-bap and Ri’s patois-laden vocals introducing what has the potential to be something interesting. Next is James Joint, an homage to ganja which boasts an instrumental that screams Thundercat, yet since he has no production credits presumably it’s a replica thereof. By and large the first half of the album seems thrown-together and lacks cohesion.

Work is meant to be the classic single yet it has no structure, no chorus, just the lyrics ‘work, work, work’ being repeated to the point of being irritating. Drake’s all important feature is underwhelming. Woo, produced by Travis Scott, is categorically awful and shouldn’t have been included. Same Ol’ Mistakes is literally the Tame Impala song with Rihanna singing over it. The interceding tracks are all fine if forgettable.

The last bit is more adventurous: Never Ending, produced by Dido, is a genuinely heartfelt acoustic number that is catchy and moving. Higher entertains a jazzy vibe, perhaps a little would-be-Winehouse but certainly different. The bonus tracks add some flavour to ANTI with Pose, a rough-hewn acid-ragga track that has some fresh appeal. Otherwise, unfortunately ANTI doesn’t live up to the hype.

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